


Power of Kings

by Poisondog2



Category: Super Mario & Related Fandoms, Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Add more when I think of some, Alternate Universe, Established Relationship, F/M, M/M, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-16
Updated: 2019-04-11
Packaged: 2019-08-03 10:02:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16324115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Poisondog2/pseuds/Poisondog2
Summary: A Lonely King:One driven to utter sadness at the loss of his family and hardened by the tough decisions he had to make for the sake of his people.Another fueled by anger and jealousy of the happiness of others and does what he could to ruin that, only to find himself falling deeper into a pit of dispair because of his actions.King Asgore of the Monster and Lord Bowser of the Koopas- when these two meet conflicting energies clash... only to find a balance within themselves. Together they find the one thing that always seemed to slip from their grasp over the many years: happiness... and something more.Who knows what the power, and love, of two kings can do...





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Don't know when I'll get back to this- just needed to get it out of my head- but definitely, I finish Ducktales: The Reflections we Face then I'll probably write chapters for this from time to time.
> 
> If you find mistakes tell me so I can fix them!

For years two kingdoms clashed. The monarch of one always being taken by the other. For years, decades, in fact, two warriors from each kingdom fought: The tyrannical king Lord Bowser and the Mushroom Kingdom’s hero Mario. These two were as different as they come, Bowser was egotistical, ruthless, and dominating while Mario was kind, determined, and never backed down.

But there was a catch to their feud: Bowser… always lost, no matter what he always lost. Trying to conquer planets, invading territories, and whatever else… he never won. And the more he lost the angrier he got.

Was he violent? Yes, but never towards his kids. He would throw around his troops from time to time or breath fire to get them to pick up their working paces, but. Other than that he never threw a fist anywhere near his kids, he wouldn’t. Not then, not now, not _ever_. He loved them too much.

To be exact they weren’t all his kids. His son, Bowser Junior, was his only biological kid and heir to the throne. The Koopalings… were complicated. They were family but just not his kids. He cherished all of them, every single one.

For years they fought alongside him as his generals, taking castles within the Mushroom Kingdom territory, and overall were a big nuisance to Mario, his brother Luigi, and the whole of the kingdom they protected.

For years they fought and for years the Mario Brothers protected their Princess Peach and her home… then the unexpected happened.

It was a normal day in the Mushroom Kingdom- blue skies, Toads running amuck, and the brothers and Peach having a nice chat within the comfort of her castle…

…That's when Luigi spotted the incoming skyship from Bowser’s arsenal. The Mushroom Kingdom panicked, as usual, The brothers two jumped to action to protect Princess Peach and her citizens, and all were nervous as… the ship wasn't firing. The hoards of Koopas and Goombas weren’t raining down to cause havoc, there was… nothing. When the airship landed Mario and Luigi prepared for a fight, never knowing what the Koopa King was up to.

What they got caused them to hesitate.

The loading bay door opened and revealed the tyrannical king himself… wearing a blood red royal cloak, simple smoke grey armor, a black crown with jewels, and a somber expression. They had also noticed that Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings were also with him wearing royal-like clothing in their own colors, “Princess Peach,” the king spoke, his deep tones with sadness and frustration, “I… come to discuss the situation regarding our two kingdoms.”

“And what would that be?” She asked sarcastically, worried what Bowser might have up his metaphorical sleeve.

“This feud… I’m tired of it.”

How unexpected, “What?” Now she was genuinely confused.

“I’ve neglected my own kingdom trying to take yours, I’ve ignored the wishes of my citizens, my generals, and my son in my thirst for power, I… frankly, I’m tired of getting my tail kicked be your _protector,_ ” the king spat out that last word like an insult as he eyed Mario, “I… I can't do this anymore. I’ve come to discuss a treaty with you and your kingdom,” eyes went wide as the three watched as Bowser regulated to one knee and bowed his head in shame, “I’m tired of the fighting, I’m tired of the failures, I’m tired of seeing my home fall apart each time I die and wait for my return because of Kamek. I’m just… tired of it all…”

The brothers didn't trust this, but were shocked as Princess Peach pushed herself pasted them and walked over to Bowser. She noticed when she looked at the Koopalings and Junior they would avoid eye contact, sadness filling their features, “King Koopa, Lord Bowser, I must ask out of curtsy to my guardians, is this _genuine?_ Do you _actually want_ the fighting to stop?”

He slowly lifted his head to meet her eyes, steeled blue against remorseful red “Yes.”

“Then,” she offered he gloved hand, “let's take this inside and discuss, shall we?”

And so a treaty was established. Mario and Luigi had their own reserves about this but held their tongues as they had no say in the internal affairs of how Peach ran her kingdom or who she discussed with. The princess herself was surprised with how cooperative Bowser was as they discussed a peace treaty that benefitted both territories: The feud between the two kingdoms was ceased in exchange that Peach gave up a portion of her land to allow Bowser to expand- her idea- while allowing the citizens of both to live within the respective kingdom without issue. It was also stated that whenever either kingdom was under attack the other would come to their aid. SImple, but effective.

_____

The months following the treaty were… tense at best. Not many Toads found the courage in themselves to venture to the Koopa Kingdom to live there while the citizens of the Koopa Kingdom still didn't feel as welcome as they should when they went to the Mushroom Kingdom.

Bowser spent most of his time as their king doing actual kingly duties, which was a different change of pace for the ex-tyrant. He did his best to treat his workers with respect and did what he could to make his home as welcoming as possible. That last part was a little hard as the architecture of the whole place was to be menacing and intimidating. Over the months, however, after the domestic lifestyle of running the day to day of the kingdom Bowser didn't grow calmer… he grew angrier.

True the Mario Brothers didn't come by anymore to check to see if he would turn on them, but the mere fact that they still didn't fully trust him was both justified and annoying. It took a whole two years for them to mellow out around him as everyone got used to the routinely meeting him and Peach would have as well as seeing Koopas and Toads around the opposite territories. There had been small threats here and there, even Mario inviting Bowser along to help them, but as. Time went on… an anger brewed with Bowser: not at Mario or Peach, but himself. He noticed without the forced company of Peach in the castle and the constant invading of Mario and Luigi coming to save her… he finally realized how _lonely_ he was.

He had his son, yes, and the Koopalings, but still didn't make up for how empty his room seemed every night. It didn't help that he would stroll the castle halls, as well as streets, to see Koopas and the like comforting each other, loving each other, while he walked around… alone. That’s what made the King angry, he was angry at his own loneliness.

He grew more violent, breathing fire unprovoked and tossing around a few servants, and all was expected of him much to his dismay. The icing on the cake, however, was when he hadn’t slept well the night before and was very irritated. He went about his day as the headache he had grown worse and worse, and the worst part the day wasn't that his son was around but the fact he kept. Asking. _Questions._

They weren’t tough question at all he was just asking about how he ran the kingdom and what he did every day, but the longer he went on it irked the large Koopa more and more. After almost two hours of questions he finally, “OH MY GOD JUNIOR WITH YOU JUST _SHUT UP!!!_ ” Bowser roared, flames bursting from his nostrils. All he saw was red and what snapped him out of was seeing the look of fear on his son’s face as it was directed at him.

Junior never looked at him that way.

His anger melted in confusion as to why his son looked liked that… until he noticed the raised fist ready to strike him. His fist ready to strike his _son_ , “J-Junior… I… I-I…” Bowser couldn’t get the words out before he sprinted away from his son, tears burning his eyes.

By the time he made it to his room and slammed the door shut, locking it, he collapsed into a heap as air burned to fill his lungs as he sobbed in frustration, “Why… H-How could I… Ugh! WHAT’S WRONG WITH ME?!” The king shouted as he slammed his fist into the stone walls, “Why, why, why?! I would never… I would _**never**_ …” Just the mere thought of him hurting his son was enough for him to claw at his head, “Get it the fuck _together_ Bowser! You don't have to worry about Mario on your ass, the Mushroom Kingdom isn't your goal anymore, so why… why does everything still irritate me?”

He had to figure this out himself because he had no one else to confide to… he was alone.

_____

The “human” area, places like New Donk City and the like, never messed with the affairs of the Mushroom and Koopa Kingdoms as they considered their life separate from their happenings, but when a mountain explodes it became everyone’s business.

The mountain itself didn't explode, per se, it more… opened up at the base. Kamek and Toadsworth told their respective rulers of the large magical release from said mountain.

Which mountain? Mount Ebott.

The whole world was shocked as the stories of their childhood came true and news covered the flow of monsters as they exited the mountain. Monsters… and a single human child.

An entire civilization living underground. An unexpected surprise. In the months that followed, human governments, as well as aid from other kingdoms, did what they could to get them settled on the surface. The child, named Frisk, worked as their ambassador as they worked to establish Monster City at the base of Mt. Ebott. They would’ve gone with the Monster Kingdom, but Frisk thought it sounded a little dull. They still functioned as a kingdom as they still had a King and that was their ruling type.

Afte quick construction, with the help of Monster Magic, Monster City was officially up and running. Great for them, not so great for humans. While most Monsters stayed within Monster City some ventured out to see what else the world had to offer. The Koopa and Mushroom Kingdoms welcomed them with open arms while the human world was… less than kind. They weren’t outright hostile, some anyway, but most, if not all, didn't fully trust Monsters. The stories of the childhoods were true, so they had no idea what else could be true- after all the Monsters were locked away by humans, so they must’ve had a good reason right?

Other than hiccups with some peace, everything went smoothly for Frisk and their family and friends. Their adoptive father, King Asgore, had gone around the coming months to get a foot in for his kingdom within politics and such, and once the human world was done he moved on to the neighboring kingdoms. Peach was kind and bubbly when he visited and the goat monster was all too happy when she offered his favorite drink, tea. He had met Mario and Luigi and was pleasantly surprised when she said that they were her protectors, but Asgore had learned long ago not to underestimate humans by how they look. His child was a perfect example of that.

Once everyone was established with the Mushroom Kingdom he moved on the darker looking territory.

Knocking on the castle’s front gates Asgore waited for an answer. Even as a powerful Boss Monster the Koopa Kingdom did send a shiver up his spine, but the thing that assured was seeing the Toads of the respective interesting kindly with the inhabitants here. The princess didn't give Asgore much detail of Lord Bowser when he mentioned this was his next destination, but she assured him that he “mellowed out” whatever that means.

In the time setting up Monster City Asgore was saddened the former Queen, Toriel, said she wouldn’t stand by his side to rule. What pained him more was seeing her grow closer to the smaller of the Skeleton Brothers, Sans. Asgore, though, never held any resentment towards the stout monster, he was happy for them and wished them nothing but happiness for the future.

Spending hundreds of years alone though really took a toll on the king. He was happy to have friends by his side, as well as a child after losing his own so long ago, but seeing the love blossoming between his ex-wife and one of his close friends ached the Boss Monster’s heart. He was only torn from his thoughts as he heard the wooden gate creak open. Dreemurr composed himself before turning back to the gate, “Howdy, I am so glad that…” The king’s deep-toned voice trailed off as he realized staring at a chin. A very large chin. The 9-foot monster had always towered over those around him, so to meet someone who was taller, albeit only a few inches taller, was a surprise. He took in the large Koopa standing in front of him- from his dark yellow scales, his cream-colored belly, and spiked cuffs- before lining up with such fiery red eyes that met his sparkling blue and warm orange.

“I… I…” Asgore shook himself out of his stupor and cleared his throat, “I am King Asgore Dreemurr, and am I to assume right that you are King Koopa?”

“Bowser, call me Bowser,” his intimidating persona seems to falter a bit as he continued to stare at the goat monster before he too shook out of his stupor, “You’re from that Monster City, right?”

“Yes. With… a little help my people were freed from our underground confides, since then I’ve been working to establish our kingdom with the surface world. I have already gone around to human area as well as visit some of the other kingdoms including the Mushroom Kingdom, may I come in?”

Asgore wasn't anything like Bowser imagined, such a warm and… caring looking individual, “Y-Yes, please, come in. We have much to discuss.”

_____

Bowser's castle was what Asgore had expected: stone bricked walls, red carpet lining the halls, and portraits of the king himself scattered about the walls. Other than the aesthetic difference to his there was one other difference: It was lively.

The halls of Asgore's former castle was void of any life, just him and his footsteps echoing through the empty halls. He very much enjoyed learning about the different species that lived within the borders of Bowser's territory, fascinated in how they all function together. Asgore compared to his own kingdom which was similar in some aspects.

As Asgore and Bowser went over alliance policies and such later on the door to the meeting room swung open as a smaller version of Bowser ran in, “Papa! Iggy keeps trying to use me as a guinea pig!”

“I am not! I just need you to test out an invention of mine!” You could hear the other voice yell as it grew closer, “It'll only take a few minutes, I promise!”

“No, I won't do it! The last time I did you turned me purple for a week- Papa!”

Bowser stared at the two young Koopas in disbelief, them clearly not acknowledging the guest he was with at the moment. With an embarrassed and frustrated with me shoveled to face the two, “Junior, you know you don't have to do anything you're don't feel up to especially when it comes to the Koopalings. And Iggy,” the green-haired Koopa stiffened, “stop experimenting on Junior and your siblings!”

“But-”

“No buts, and of discussion… _but_ I never said anything about the troops,” the Koopaling's eyes seem to grow with realization, “Do you understand?”

Iggy nodded, “Good, now get going. I'm in a meeting right now,” and just as quickly as he showed up Iggy bolted off to find some poor Paratroopa or goomba. Just as Bowser Jr. went to leave his father stopped him and directed to the monster he was talking to, “Junior there's someone I would like you to meet, meet King Asgore Dreemurr.”

“Howdy, it's a pleasure to meet you,” Asgore said as he smiled at the young koopa.

Junior's eyes lit up, “Oh! Are you the king of all those monsters that came out of the ground?” Though Junior was 11 at this point when he got excited he tended to use simpler words.

Asgore chuckled at the silly phrased question, “Heh, yes I guess you could say that. We were trapped down there by sorcerers of old, but with a little help from a small child we were able to free ourselves.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really, which means… you could do something great as well.”

“I can?” Bowser Jr. had never really thought about that. He always assumed he would take over the kingdom, he thought that was something great. But now? As he was?

“Oh yes because if my daughter could free all of my people then something tells with the support you have you'll be able to accomplish things just as great!

The young Koopa beamed as he ran up, gave Asgore a quick hug, then bolted off. This cause the old monster to chuckle, “He's an energetic one.”

“Yeah, just wish he didn't interrupt us for that.”

“Oh I don't mind, children are a delight to be around,” Asgore commented as he scratched at his beard, “Probably helps since I have one of my own.”

“Oh yeah, you did say you have a daughter right?”

“Yes, my daughter Frisk. She’s human, so she’s adopted, but I don't love her any less. I… had children before her, but… I lost them,” the boss monster’s voice grew quiet and distant. He wasn't really sure why he told Bowser that, but he felt... comfortable around him.

Bowser placed a hand on the other king’s shoulder. He had never known the loss of a child, but he did know loss, “I’m sorry, how long ago?”

“Oh it was decades ago,” the other king threw a mask of content, “my own negligence is what caused me to lose them.” Bowser bit his cheek at that comment. Such a self-deprecating comment was jarring to the Koopa King since it seemed that Asgore was always jovial.

“That can't be true. When it comes to people like us… when trying to do our best, but sometimes the bad catches up to us without us noticing.”

_____

After some more discussion on the kingdom alliance, Bowser took Asgore on a tour of the castle, introducing him to some troops that were around, and having the host king tell tales of his past escapades. Asgore was… not disappointed, but rather perturbed with how much he had fought with the neighboring kingdom. He found it especially interesting with how much the large Koopa had lost to the much smaller plumber but found it amusing when he brought up that point. He found Bowser getting flustered and annoyed rather… adorable.

By the time they had finished the tour the sun was beginning to set and Bowser was, slowly, guiding the guest king towards the front gates. He had watched how the man's white fur blended nicely with his full head and beard of blonde, how his gold armor complimented his Royal purple cape, or how Asgore's horns were of a snowy white with only minor scratches.

Bowser's horns were small and yellowed compared to the king next to his, he was jealous, but it… it was a nice jealous.

At one point he had subconsciously stopped in them in front of a room, Bowser's back to it, “Well I guess you'll have to get going,” the slight sadness in his tone was evident to the Boss Monster.

“Oh don't be down, you'll probably see more of me in the coming months. Until next time Lord Bowser.”

“Until next time King Asgore.”

The two kings stared at one another, smiling but not moving. They stayed like this for a while… until Browser snapped.

The large Koopa pinned the goat monster to the stone wall and though Asgore was momentarily surprised he didn't try to maneuver his way out. Bowser growled with hunger as he brought a clawed hand up to Dreemurr's face, hesitating for the fact he might've gotten the wrong signals. Those worries faded as Asgore cupped his giant hand with both of his own as he guided it through his beard, ‘It's soft,’ Browser thought as he cupped the goat's cheek and pulled him into a chaste kiss. What was a simple lip lock grew furious and aggressive as the two men ran their hands over the other's body, feeling over muscle and fabric. They broke their everlasting kiss, both panting fanatically, as both looked at one another with lust as Bowser gripped onto Asgore and guided him into the room behind him. His room.

Things were pretty loud that night.

When the Koopa King woke in the morning he noticed that he felt… content. He also noticed the other, more naked, body of the King of Monsters sleeping soundly next to him.

Bowser thought this was going to be a one-time thing. They both felt lonely, Bowser surmised, and they both just wanted to be in the embrace of someone for the night. For the crass ruler- like he was at times: it was just a fuck.

How wrong he was.

Over the next six months Asgore and Bowser got to know one another: their likes, their pet peeves, how they ruled their kingdoms, their friends and family, and… what they wanted in a partner.

Lust grew into admiration which grew into… love.

No one knew of their blooming relationship, not their kingdoms and especially not their families and friends…

...But as the kings of two kingdoms, things can get a little complicated when trying to keep secrets... and niether Bowser nor Asgore were usually good at keeping secrets.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo! Another chapter of Power of Kings! Like I always say, I intend to finish all of the stories I write and will not leave any unfinished, but some might gather some dust as I have plenty of works to work on and don't want to burn myself out while writing.
> 
> There's not much I want to say other than enjoy the chapter! It's pretty long, in my opinion.
> 
> Spot any mistakes tell me and I'll fix them!

Long ago there was peace, Monsters and Humans living happily. All was well, sharing the land with no issues to speak of and everyone was content…

...then one day it occurred to those same Humans that even both species has the ability to wield magic the Monsters could do something they couldn't: Take a human soul. That fact alone halted any progress with the two races, and though it was terrifying to know that a species had the ability to grow immensely powerful single soul overrode the fact that it would take a good chunk of Monsters to even match the power of a single human soul. That didn't matter though, logic never really mattered to humans.

There was a war, a bloody and dusty war, and in the end, the Humans won. With their magic, the Humans trapped the Monsters underground behind a magical barrier that only a human soul could pass.

For centuries the Monsters remained under Mount Ebott as the world above moved on and the war that was fought faded into legend. Humans, over time, fell out of the pattern of magic as that too became nothing but fantasy. What blossomed in its place was the story of the mountain and what you happen if you climbed it.

One human didn't care, a child named Chara. The bedtime stories of the ferocious Monsters were nothing but lies, as they had come to find out, and saw that they were kinder than any human. Chara was practically adopted by the royal family as they welcomed them with open arms. Asgore and Toriel loved their new daughter with all their heart, as any child should get, and Asriel had been ecstatic to have a sister to play with…

...Then with a single mistake and a not very well thought out plan Chara and Asriel turned to dust right in front of Asgore and Toriel, their fused souls and failed venture to the surface supplied nothing but pain.

Heartbroken and furious, Asgore roared and vowed that any human to fall into the Underground was a threat and their soul would be taken in order to free them from their dark prison. Toriel, appalled by Asgore's sentiment, left him in order to protect any human that would fall into the Underground so they would never have to see the Boss Monster's fury.

She failed. The consequence? The six lives of children and Asgore's broken heart and cracking soul. The anger had faded… leaving nothing but anguish in its place.

Time would continue to pass by, no humans falling down… Until a curious child climbed to the top.

Human souls were a culmination of their being and when viewed had several distinct colors that showed its dominant trait. Orange for Courage, Blue for Integrity, Yellow for Justice, Green for Kindness, Purple for Perseverance, Cyan for Patience, and Red… for Determination. Determination was by far the strongest soul trait, it was what Chara had… and it was what this new human had. Frisk was their name.

They had a power like no other in the Underground: The ability to Save and Reload.

And to _Reset._

Like any kid Frisk was curious, and after running into a homicidal flower, a loving yet overprotective goat, and a smiling skeleton in the first few hours was an impression, to say the least. Having to fight a corrupted God with a television for a face after traveling through the entire Underground was… not the best of circumstances. But even after that Frisl felt like there was still more to do down there with the Monsters… so they Reset to experience it all again. They hadn't hurt anyone the first time, they normally wouldn't… but they wanted to see what would happen if they did. They were a kid, after all, they were curious.

Frisk noticed the small voice next to her that sounded much like them but slightly different but paid it no mind the first go around. This time, however, it was hard to ignore. The voice grew frantic and worried the more they struck down Monsters, but the moment Toriel fell without any effort on their part horrified both her and the voice.

And then… it didn't. Frisk grew neutral and the voice had a presence and it seemed… _colder._

Monster after Monster Frisk grew more and more distant and the voice grew darker and darker.

The Underground was empty, and now there was only Monster left: a skeleton in a blue hoodie and basketball shorts, “heya.”

Frisk said nothing.

“you've been pretty busy, huh?” Sans took a moment to sigh, “so, i've got a question for ya.” Frisk tiled their head, “do you think even the worst person can change… that everyone can be a good person if they just try?”

Frisk continued to stare.

Sans laughed, “well here's a better question,” his eye sockets held no light as his smile was eerily big, “ _do you wanna have a bad time?_ cause if you take another step forward… you are _really_ not going to like what happens next…”

Frisk stepped forward.

“welp… sorry old lady. this is why i don't make promises.”

The room grew dark as the outside sound of birds chirping started to amplify, “it's a beautiful day outside… birds are singing, flowers are blooming, and days like this kids like you… _s h o u l d b e b u r n i n g i n h e l l…_ ”

The fight began.

Over and over again Frisk came at the stout skeleton, and over and over again the sound of a shattering soul filled the judgment hall. Sans threw it her face every time she died and how many times. Frisk was starting to get irritated.

And so was the voice, _**“He only has one HP, he is the EASIEST enemy. Why are you struggling?!”**_ Frisk ignored them, however, as they tried pushing forward on and on again. Every time they failed.

 _ **“Frisk…”**_ Frisk kept going… 11 deaths… 15 deaths… 23 deaths…

After the girl's 30th attempt the voice was fed up, _**“If you can't finish him, then maybe I CAN!”**_ Frisk had no time to react when it felt like their spirit was ripped from their body just as they loaded into their last checkpoint, which was at the beginning of the judgment hall. In place of them they saw their body, but… something was off. Frisk could see their blue and purple striped sweater and dark brown- practically black- hair, but in their place, her hair glowed a more Caramel color while their sweater shimmered green and yellow.

Frisk was baffled as the voice who took control of them smiled, and after so many times Frisk was finally seeing exactly what they were doing from a different perspective, with a clearer mind. Though the voice, even putting up a good effort, had failed they had gotten further than they ever had gone before. When they returned to the “Menu Screen”, as Frisk dubbed it, they asked if they could go again.

 _ **“What? Do you think you can do it right this time?”**_ Frisk nodded, _**“Then by all means…”**_

They were back, “you know, i don't think i've ever met a human as determined as you. then again, I really haven't met any humans other than you, so i guess that's a terrible comparison…” And again the fight began, but something was different. They were faster, they understood his patterns better, and they came closer and closer to striking the skeleton with each attack.

They kept going… and going… and going… until sans had trapped them with their “special attack”, “i know i can't beat you. one of your turns… you're just gonna kill me. so, uh. i’ve decided… it's not gonna _be_ your turn. ever. i'm just gonna keep having _my_ turn until you give up. even if it means we have to stand here until the end of time. capiche?” Over time Sans continued to stare at Frisk and kept them from moving at all… until he started to get sleepy, and sleepy, and sleepy… then Frisk heard the soft “snoring” coming from the skeleton. This was their chance. They attacked.

And missed, “heh, didja really think you would be able-” They attacked again, surprising Sans…

But what didn't make sense was that they didn't slice through Sans’ chest, just his shirt and a bit of his hoodie as he fell to the ground. The skeleton didn't know what to do.

Frisk spoke, “Do it…”

“what?”

“Please…” Sans noticed the trembling in their hands, “I can't… please…” Sans watched as her arm wielding the knife shimmering a different sweater color as their arm started raising, “PLEASE!”

Sans threw a flurry of bones. Frisk's soul shattered.

Back at the Menu Screen the voice freaked out, _**“WHAT DID YOU DO?!?! We were SO CLOSE! Why did you do that?!”**_

“We can't do this…”

_**“What?”** _

“Papyrus, Muffet, Undyne, Mettaton… They didn't deserve this!”

_**“But you CHOSE this! You CHOSE to murder them all!”** _

“It wasn't supposed to _**hurt!**_ ”

_**“What did you expect to happen? To fully detach from everything you've done? That's not how the real world works, this was your choice… and we're going to finish this.”** _

“...No…”

_**“What did you say?”** _

“I said _**NO!**_ ” Frisk leaped towards the only button they wanted to use: Reset. The segmented voice did their best to hold Frisk back, but they couldn't hold back their determined soul.

Frisk fell once again. Their mind was cleared, everything felt right again.

When Frisk felt the grass beneath their fingers and sat up. They were going to do this right, and first things first, “Hello? Come on I know you're there…” A few moments went by before something materialized in front of her: a green and yellow striped sweater, black pants, and messy caramel colored hair, “Hey.”

_“Don't… just… don't. Why didn't you finish that run?”_

“Because i couldn't.”

_“Why?”_

“They were only monsters at first, but over the last few runs I've…” Frisk stared at the ground, “I was only curious to see what would happen then go back… but I couldn't stop. Everything started to feel-”

 _“Distant? Like feeling drained from you?”_ Frisk nodded, _“Yeah… LOVE and EXP will do that to you. And… I'm mad. I'm mad that you decided to murder people that I care about, and…”_ the translucent kid shivered, _“I went along with it. I didn't feel like myself.”_

“That's why I reset because I could feel the both of us drifting. So let's start over?” Frisk got to their feet and dusted themselves off and held out a hand, “Hi, I'm Frisk.”

The ghost kid glanced at their extended hand and snorted, _“Chara, Chara Dreemurr.”_ And from there they ventured into the Underground…

.....That was almost 8 months ago. The building and construction of Monster City, once the barrier was broken, took time, but with the help of Monster Magic it made the process so much easier. The entire city limit was comprised of a mixture of modern buildings in some areas, steampunk design in others, some more technologically advanced looking parts, along with areas that looked like old timey village stone houses. It was… quite the sight to look at, even more so was the huge castle that made up the city center: a complete replica of the royal castle in the Underground.

It was a Friday morning when the sun started to shine through the curtains, right onto a potted yellow flower that hated how good the rays felt, “Ugh… every time…” A small vine extended from the plant to grip the curtains and shut them, only for the shuffling to disturb the mass laying in the bed next to the dresser, “Of course…”

12-year-old Frisk Dreemurr slowly sat up, stretched, and yawned, “...Morning Asriel…”

“It's _Flowey_ ,” they had told the kid almost every day since they had been on the surface.

Frisk shrugged, “Same difference.” The young girl threw off her blanket and sauntered over to the closet so they could change out of their pajamas. Donning their signature blue/purple striped sweater and jean shorts they headed to the bathroom to relieve themselves and brush their hair. Heading back she found Flowey dozing back to sleep… until she ripped open the curtains and filling the room with light.

“GAAHH!!!” The plant screamed and Frisk laughed, “That's not funny!”

“It is to me, don't you agree Chara?”

 _“Yep,”_ Answered the disembodied voice as the kid materialized, floating over the bed, _“Azzy hasn't always been a morning person, which didn't make sense since he was always full of energy once I got him up.”_

“Stop calling me that, I'm not Asriel!” The plant whined.

 _“Sure sound like Asriel when you whine,”_ Chara added with a smirk.

Nobody in Frisk’s very extended family the truth of Flowey’s identity or that Chara’s spirit was bound to her soul, allowing her to communicate with the ghost as well as be shadowed by them. Frisk hadn’t really brought up a good way to mention it to anyone and even though they wanted to Frisk held off for the very fact it might cause some… issues in the future.

Frisk let the two bicker for a moment until they heard their mother calling for them downstairs, “Alright, as much as I would love to watch this go on,” Frisk picked up Flowey while he was mid-insult, “but it's time for breakfast.” Chara commented how cute the plant looked being held by the flower pot and Frisk had to cover Flowey’s mouth on the routine of knowing he would let out a string of curses if left alone.

The flower grumbled all the way down into the dining room as Chara floated above. Nobody other than Frisk and Flowey could see Chara, which pained the ghost with how close she was to her mother an couldn’t do anything. Chara was happy enough, though, just to be near them again.

“Ah, good morning my child,” Toriel cooed as the large goat monster placed a loving kiss on top of their head, “I do hope you are hungry, I may have made… a tad too much,” Toriel muttered as she glanced at the array of food covering the dining table.

“It's okay Mom, I’ll just eat what I can now and what we don't finish we can save for later!” Even with the many months on the surface Toriel still struggled with the fact the human food wasn't innately magical so there was no need to make so much of it. Frisk did enjoy the occasional Spider Donut at Muffet’s bakery, but nothing would match how good it was to eat proper, physical food sometimes.

As the two started to dig in there was a knock at the door, Toriel went to answer, “Who’s there?”

_“boo.”_

“Boo who?”

_“aww don't cry tori, i’m here to lighten up your day!”_

The Monster couldn’t help but fail miserably stifle a laugh as she proceeded to open the door, “Hello Sans, it’s always wonderful to see you.”

“i’m glad to hear that,” the short skeleton stepped in and walked over to the dining room, rubbing his fuzzy pink slippers against to carpet before walking across wood.

“Oh look, it's the Smiley Tr-“

_Zap!_

“Yeouch!” Flowey screeched as Sans poked his stem.

The skeleton couldn’t help but chuckle, “hello to you too ya dumb weed, i’m glad that my presence is always missed with your constant jabs at me.”

“Sans, Flowey, behave you two.” Toriel, even with her soothing voice, was still a mother and a mother could always command someone with only a few words. The two broke their stare-off. Sans, though, had brightened as he turned to Frisk, “mornin’ kiddo, i see you have a pretty fillin’ breakfast here.” The comedian reached over and grabbed the old school ketchup bottle out of the center, “this is all i need though.”

Frisk cringed a bit as Sans began glopping down the condiment, “I still don't get why you’re so into ketchup.”

“because, frisk, ketchup is amazing. it's one of the four things i love,” at the Toriel placed a kiss on top of his skull as she headed into the kitchen to clean up, the skeleton blushing blue as he sat down. “So, you’re going to see your pops today after school?”

“Sans I don't have school, remember?”

“oh, right, yeah,” Sans knocked against his skull, “guess I’m a bit of a _numbskull_ sometimes. Keep forgetting about this ‘summer vacation’ you’re on, you humans got a lot of holidays and vacations to keep track of.” Frisk knew it wasn’t hard for Sans to remember any of this… most of the time. The monster was pretty smart and usually helped Alphys in her lab once in a while when he felt up to it. Not actually assist her, mind you, but be sitting on her lab couch as he threw out ideas for whatever project the lizard was working on.

“But yeah I am going to visit Dad today. I feel like I haven’t seen him in a while,” it was true that Frisk did visit her adoptive father, Asgore, often but the time between those visit felt stagnant on occasion and there were times she had to visit because of ambassador duties as they we're the representative of all Monsters, only second to the king. “I was thinking that maybe you could take me today, I was going to take the bus but…” Frisk rested her head on Sans’ boney shoulder as she ate some more hashbrowns, “my Dunkle Sans wouldn't mind, _right?_ ” They fluttered their eyes just a bit.

Even with Sans’ constant smile the kid could tell that he was smirking just slightly, “sure kiddo no problem.”

“Awesome!”

_____

Once breakfast was finished up and packed away Toriel bid Sans and Frisk farewell as they began walking down the road- they lived in the more modern Monster City neighborhoods, “alright kid, i think i know a shortcut to gore’s place.”

“You can call it teleporting now Sans, there’s no need to act so mysterious about what you can do.”

“eh, shortcuts sounds more me to me. i am lovably lazy after all.”

“Uncle Papyrus would disagree with that.”

“yeah, but paps isn't here right now so it doesn’t matter.”

Frisk could feel the surge of magic as Sans built up enough energy to teleport the two of them across town to Asgore’s house, which was a recreation of New Home. While Sans charged though Frisk caught herself glancing at Chara as they floated above, a look of irritation towards the skeleton, “Hey Sans?”

“yeah frisk?”

“I’m sorry.”

The skeleton halted, “what for?” He didn't turn around.

“You know what I’m talking about Sans… I’m sorry for everything.” No matter how many times Frisk had said this exact line it never felt like it was ever going to be enough, not with Sans around and remembering every detail. “I shouldn’t have done what I did in the Underground, there’s was no reason for it. I-“

“was curious?” Frisk froze for a moment before nodding, not liking that the skeleton wasn't looking at her, “it's fine frisk, you made a mistake, sure, but you stopped yourself and went back,” the skeleton turned around with a sincere smile on his face, “what you did, i’m not gonna lie, isn't going to leave me any time soon…” Frisk deflated a bit, “but that doesn’t mean you’re a monster. look at us now: on the surface! that's pretty cool, not papyrus cool but cool nonetheless,” Frisk chuckled at that, “just promise me you wont reset, okay? we're pretty happy now and… i’m not sure if i could handle that honestly.”

Frisk faltered a bit, “I… I can't.”

Sans sighed, “well, i guess all i could ask is warn me okay? it’ll give me time to-“

“No you don't understand, I _can't_ Reset.”

“whaddya mean?”

“I haven’t been able to access the Reset or Load options since we got to the surface. I still have Save and I use it every week or so, but other than that I’m pretty limited. Even if I had access to the Reset button,” she took Sans’ hand into her own and stared at him with renowned confidence, “ _I **won’t** Reset. **Ever.**_ ”

Sans eyed Frisk for a bit, seeing the determined glint in their eyes, before grinning proper, “okay kid, i believe you. now if we're done with the heart to heart i think we should get you to your pop's place.” With the offer of the skeleton's hand, which Frisk took with glee, and with the snap of his fingers wind wooshed around them and in the blink of an eye both found themselves standing in the recreation of New Home, “hey gorey, we're here!” The house was unusually quiet and dark.

Sans and Frisk looked around and upon not finding any signs of the Goat Monster it confused the both of them, “Um… where’s Dad?”

“i haven’t got a clue kid, he knew you were visiting today right?”

“Yeah, I mean, he should’ve…” Frisk scratched her head before spotting a tuft of white fur in the sink as the two of them converged in the kitchen, “Wait, I have an idea!” Pulling the fur out- only a little wet, she tried handing it to Sans, “Do you think you can teleport to Dad’s location with this?”

Sans arched the eye ridge of his skull, “uh… i don't think that's how that works frisk.”

“But you teleport to wherever Papyrus is all the time!”

“yeah, but that because he’s my bro. i’m kinda connected to him after all…”

“Come on Sans, please? For me?” The young human batted their eyes in order to look younger and cuter as they also quivered their lip a bit.

Sans seemed really unsure of himself, but after a minute or two of Frisk doing The Face he sighed and took the fur from them, “alright, alright, i’ll try, but i’m not guaranteeing anything!”

“That's all I ask!” Frisk cheered as she took her dunkle’s hand.

There was a moment of rare concentration from the stout skeleton as his magic aura flowed over the both of them and Frisk was surprised as she saw the world fade around in a wave of blue before landing wherever Sans had taken the two of them. His teleports were usually almost instantaneous, so it was pretty cool to see one of the rare cases where it felt like actually moving from one place to another.

Their scenery, however, was not one either of them recognized: It was a castle, that much they were certain, of dark stone bricks with very bright torches lining the walls, and red carpeting running down the center of the halls. There was a sense of… intimidation around them, but both shook it off as being unfamiliar with the location, “So… I’m guessing not the Royal Castle back home?”

“nope, sure doesn’t seem like it.” Sans gestured for Frisk to follow him as the two explored their surroundings.

The castle itself was pretty enormous and when passing by a few viewing windows both Sans and Frisk could definitively conclude that they were not in Monster City, which had gotten Frisk a little excited. They didn't really run into anybody for 20 minutes before a pair of turtle looking creatures were walking towards them, paused when they saw them, then bolted back in the direction from where they came. The pair didn't really know what to think of that until not even two minutes later a large electrical dome formed around them. Sans tensed up, ready for an attack before Frisk grabbed their sleeves calm them down.

Sans usually tried to hide his true abilities and knowledge from a lot of people and felt comfortable about being more himself around Frisk, so seeing them shake their head in a “we don't have to fight” sort of way it did wonders for the smaller skeleton.

“Oh cool! It worked!” A rather nasally voice called out behind them and when the pair turned around they saw seven of those turtle creatures stand outside of the dome: the one that had spoken was lanky and had messy fluorescent green hair and strange looking glasses, the one standing to his left was only a bit shorter and had sky blue hair that swept off to the side, “You mean you weren’t sure it was going to?” His voice sounded more of an older teen.

“Well I’ve never really had a chance to field test it until now.”

“Which is risky, yes, but it was a calculated risk since we were called for such… unforeseen intruders in the castle,” standing to bodies to the right spoke another with blue hair, but larger and more of a lapis color, “though I have to say they are rather unique.” His voice was smooth and calm.

“He he he! They do seem rather fun to play with!” Said, what was to be assumed, the youngest one with his big smile and multi-colored Mohawk, “Though, I don't think they’re here to invade.”

“You’re probably right about that,” boomed a voiced that sounded like melted chocolate, which emanated from the rather burly one with red sunglasses, “but we can't dismiss them because they don't look threatening. Mario wasn't all that intimidating and he could best all of us no problem!”

“Bro’s right, so maybe we hound take them down to the dungeons,” spoke the other large creature, colored a faded dark grey and had a gravelly but no less deep voice.

“Boys, boys, settle down,” said the one girl amongst guys, wearing gold bracelets, a touch of makeup, and a large bow, “Why don't we talk to them first to see why they're here.” The girl strolled over to the edge of the dome and smiled, “Hi, what're your names?”

“sans, sans the skeleton.”

“Frisk, Frisk Dreemurr.”

“Nice to meet you, Sans, Frisk, I’m Wendy Koopa and these are my brothers.” Each one spoke:

“Iggy Koopa.”

“Name’s Lemmy!”

“I’m Larry.”

“Roy Koopa, and this is my twin Morton.” The darker one grunted.

“You can call me Ludwig von Koopa. We're the Koopalings.”

“So, now that introductions are out of the way, mind telling us why you’re here?”

“We're actually looking for my Dad, but this place is pretty big so we don't really know where to start.”

“yeah, and it would probably be easier if you take use to the guy in charge of the place, so…” Sans’ smile seem to widen and Frisk let out a quiet groan, “take us to your leader.”

_____

The Koopalings kept an eye on Sans and Frisk as they guided them through the castle toward the War Room where their leader was. It wasn't exactly a “War Room” anymore these days, but it's where their leader held his meetings. Upon getting to and entering said War Room they were all greeted by a loud roar and the heat of flames, “ _Idiots, all of you!_ ” Boomed a rather deep voice, “I ask you council members to do _one thing_ , and you can't even seem to accomplish that task without causing problems…”

“But sire-“

“I don't want your excuses! This banquet must be perfect- all of the leaders from the neighboring kingdoms are coming _here_ and, for whatever reason, you can't seem to get everything set up for this!”

“Your majesty,” a short, brown, mushroom-looking creature said, “The banquet isn't for another week, I don't see-“

“That's what you said last month when you said you would have everything we needed by that date, but guess what? _YOU DON'T!_ ” Another volley of fire flowed from the mouth of the large man, “Now stop wasting my time, and get to work!” A flurry of underlings started scurrying around as the large ruler huffed.

“Um, Lord Bowser?” Larry queried. The man, named Bowser, whipped around, but soon started to calm upon seeing the Koopalings and tiled his head in confusion upon seeing Frisk and Sans, “We have some, uh… guests that had asked to see you.”

“Right right, of course,” Bowser steadied his breathing as he started to smirk, “Greetings, my name is Bowser Koopa. This is my castle.”

“pleasure to meet‘cha,” Sans held out a hand and as Bowser went to shake it there was a very distinct farting sound filling the air, which threw most of everyone off while Frisk did her best to hold herself together. Sans, on the other hand, couldn’t keep himself from chuckling, “heh heh, the old ‘woopie cushion in the hand’ trick, it’s always funny.” The large king looked at little flustered as Sans shrugged, “thought i break the ice a little bit, after all, you seemed pretty-“

“Sans don't-“

“ _fired up_ earlier, the perks of running a kingdom?”

Bowser was more curious about these two as he snickered, “Yes, I guess it is, but let's get down to your reason for visit: Why is that exactly?”

“We're looking for my dad,” Frisk answers, “his name is Asgore Dreemurr, do you know him?”

“Asgore- wait, you’re _that_ Frisk? Gore’s daughter?”

“Yeah, uh, you know me?”

Bowser laughed at that, “He talks all about you! Really, he never shuts up about how proud he is of you!” Frisk started to blush slightly, “Which makes you the skeleton that stole his wife.”

“yep, that's me, just your average wife stealer,” Sans could tell the king was joking.

Bowser smirked as he turned back to the Koopalings, “Thank you, you seven, I appreciate you bringing them here. I’ll take them where they need to go from here.” The koopalings nodded and headed off just as Bowser began escorting the pair, “So, is there any particular reason why you’re visiting your father?”

“Nope not really, just visiting for the weekend. It’s summer vacation so I can come over, really, any time.”

Bowser hums in thought as they continued to walk. Frisk was curious, though, and asked what kind of Monster Bowser was since they didn't really see anyone like them in the Underground, “I’m not a Monster- though some would say otherwise- no, I’m what’s called a Koopa. My species vary in size and our skills, but I, the Koopalings, and my son are different because of our royal blood.”

Sans whistled, “wow, a king and a father of eight? that's a lot on your plate bows.”

Bowser glanced at the skeleton in confusion, “Father of eight? What do you…” then it clicked, “Oh, no, the Koopalings aren’t mine. My son, Bowser Jr., is my only child. The Koopalings are…” Bowser’s expression hardens a bit, “...family, but they’re not my kids.” Bowser didn't say much after that as they continued walking around. They finally made it to their destination which was to large heavy wooden doors, and as Bowser pushed the door open he smirked, “Asgore, you have some visitors.”

The chambers was a fairly large library with an amber glow that shone from the mixture of lights and torches. The walls were lined with shelves of much literature and sitting amongst the reclining chairs was a very large goat engrossed in the book in front of him, “Hm? Oh, Frisk!”

“Dad!” Frisk rushed into Asgore's arms as he embraced her in a loving hug.

“Was your visit today? Forgive me, it must've slipped my mind.”

“It's okay Dad, but, uh… where are we?”

“It's the Koopa Kingdom, we are… a little ways from Monster City.”

“Why don't you show them around Asgore,” Bowser suggested, “I have to get back to my... _Kingly Duties,_ ” he growled out, “but feel free to explore the castle and grounds, show your family around.” Bowser bid the three farewell as Frisk, Sans, and Asgore reacquainted with one another. After bookmarking his page, Asgore put his book back before assorted the pair around the castle. Frisk was very interesting in Bowser’s castle since, even as the Monster ambassador, she didn't go venturing to other kingdoms as often and this place was so different from Monster City that she couldn't help but gush out questions. Frisk found it surprising that the Koopa Kingdom used to feud with the sister kingdom, The Mushroom Kingdom, and that Bowser was more or less the Bad Guy against them, but the kid was happy that things seemed to have settled down. She also found it fascinating the many different species that lived there: Koopas, Goombas, Spikes, Bloopers, Rexes, Shy Guys, and many others!

Sans asked a question that had been in the back of his mind the entire time, “so are these guys Monsters? I’m just a little confused since they seem to have no idea what we are.”

Asgore shook his head, “SInce visiting this place on and off for the past six months I have tried looking into the Records before the war, unfortunately some information was lost during that trial, but from what I’ve been able to go through there didn't seem to be any recordings of any of these species amongst the Monster Population at the time. At the very least they’re Monster Adjacent, but they aren’t like us.”

“gotcha, i guess that ties into why the magic around here doesn't feel exactly how it does back home.” The group had made it outside to walk to castle grounds. “i’m feelin’ a bit off to tell you the truth, are ya sure i can take a shortcut out of here?”

“I haven't had any problems using my magic here so I would believe that your abilities won't be hindered either.” Asgore had opened his mouth to say more when he caught a glimpse of something glowing next to him and was shocked to see it was Frisk, a bright red aura emanating from their chest. The light lasted a few more seconds before fading, the kid looking a bit confused when they panned up to their father, “Well… I guess this land's magic affected Frisk than you or I Sans.”

“I… I have magic?” Frisk knew their previous powers to Load, Save, and Reset were innately magical, but they couldn't cast spells. Could they?

“It appears so. Most humans have a small sliver of magic in their soul- since the practice seem to had died off centuries ago- but it seems your soul is more 'charged’ in a way, that possibly has to so with passing through the broken Barrier and wondering throughout the magic concentrated Underground.” Asgore knelt down before wrapping their arms around their daughter, “And I am so happy for you! That means Toriel and I can teach you how to manifest your magic, we haven't done that since…” the King's face grew dark for a moment before shaking his head, “never mind, but this is truly amazing!” He couldn't help but be happy for his child since they had so many people in their lives that would assist in helping their magic grow to its fullest potential, “Now, why don't we continue our tour?”

_____

As the sun began to set and Asgore waved goodbye to Sans and Frisk he couldn't help but let out a deep sigh as Sans teleported away. He always would enjoy Frisk's company, she was his daughter after all, and Sans was always good company, but the two of them catching him at Bowser's castle was sloppy on his part.

The Goat Monster felt a large hand clasp around his shoulder and knew exactly who it was as he cupped it with his own, “I can't believe I forgot Frisk was visiting today.”

“Everything worked out didn't it?” Bowser asked, “And you had a nice day with them, right?”

“I know, I did, but… I'm just worried is all.”

“Worried that your daughter will find out you're dating such a stealing handsome king such as myself,” bolstered Bowser as he flexed one arm causing Asgore to laugh.

“No it's not that, I'm just… it's been centuries since Toriel left me and I just don't want to screw up what we have because of some stupid fault of my own.” Bowser could see the uncertainty and pain in Asgore's expression, so he did what he could to calm his partner: held him close and warmed him with a small fire burning in his chest.

Other than being kings it was the one thing the two could bond over: Fire. Bowser and Asgore manipulated flames in their own ways, but both understood the need for control as fire could be both revitalizing and destructive. The affinity for fire was one of the things that attracted Asgore to Bowser as it did all those years with Toriel. Unlike Toriel, however, Bowser had experiences similar to his own to relate to: The struggle of being King and trying to satisfy their subjects, the irritation that no matter how hard you worked that what you did wasn't ever enough, and… those around them only seeing one segment of the full picture.

For Asgore it was his kind demeanor that usually hid pain, anger, and regret.

For Bowser it was his abrasive nature that his the loving heart and kind soul that he was always afraid to let others see.

Six months they had been together, six months of learning about one another, six months of affection and kindness and tenderness between the two rulers… Asgore felt his soul heal just a tiny bit whenever he was around.

“Gore?”

“Hm?

“Can I… see it?”

“Bowser we're in public,” the large Monster teased seeing the burly Koopa blush.

“That's not what I mean and you know it!” Asgore couldn't help but snicker at Bowser's frantic expression, “I mean… your soul, is it okay if I see it again?” Asgore had shown his soul to Bowser for the first time a month and a half ago and to say he was shocked would be an understatement.

The Goat Monster nodded as he rested a hand against his chest, his cyan and orange aura manifesting slowly. Bowser never failed to be amazed as Asgore's magic did its job and there formed in his lover's palms was an upside-down white heart with small cracks lining some of the edges.

A soul, it was something Bowser had never seen before… it was truly a sight to behold. The king's chest clenched, though, at the sight of the cracks remembering how Asgore had told him how fragile Monster Souls could be. His first instinct, as with Junior, was to reach out and shield it from danger. He only snapped back to reality when Asgore stepped away to keep it out of reach, “Right, look but don't touch.”

“I'm sorry Bowser, but I-”

“Don't know what would happen if I held it since I'm not human but I'm not a Monster either.”

“I'm sorry Bowser… I'm just worried is all,” Asgore placed his soul back within his body and sighed, “and I would love to show you your soul, but…”

“You're not ready for that for whatever reason since you won't tell me why,” Asgore opened his snout before Bowser held up a hand, “it's fine Gore, you'll show me it when you're ready and until then I'll wait.”

Asgore smiled at that, “Thank you, Bowser, you're very kind.”

“Shhhh, don't say that out loud, what would my troops think hearing that?!” Bowser huffed in mock panic making Asgore laugh once again. Bowser smirked at the sight, _‘I'd do anything to keep that smile on your face…’_

_____

After Frisk had retold their day to their mother, who was very fascinated in hearing about said Koopa Kingdom, night soon fell upon them and Frisk was asked to start getting ready for bed. Once changed and in their room, they didn't really have to go to bed right away since it was summer break, but Toriel didn't want them staying up too late.

They had roped Flowey into talking about his day, which consisted of hanging out with Toriel and listening to the many stories she would tell any willing soul. Though he tried to ignore her he couldn't help but enjoy being in the company of his own mother, even if he wouldn't fully admit to being Asriel. Frisk saw the sad smile on the flower's face, “Hey, you okay?”

It was gone in an instant, “I'm fine Frisk, why wouldn't I be? Did you forget? I'm a flower with no soul, there isn't really much for me to feel.”

“Asriel-”

“And stop calling me Asriel already!” Flowey shouted, “I'm not him! I can't be him! I… I…” Flowey wilted, “I can't… I don't deserve to be…” Frisk scooped up his pot and held it against her chest, the cool sensation on her shoulder telling her that Chara was watching them, “You saw what I did, you _felt_ what I did- every time your soul shattered because of me- Asriel wouldn't do that… I can't be Asriel…”

 _“Yes you are,”_ echoed Chara, _“You're just missing some bits of you, that doesn't make you any less my… **our** brother, got it?”_ Flowey didn't move, _“Got it?”_ Chara said a little firmer. The flower nodded, _“Good, now stop being such a spoilsport. I'm ready to play some video games if you don't mind.”_

“It's fine Chara,” Frisk spoke as she felt the cool sensation flood her back and she found herself in her mind, Chara standing next to her in a more solid form. Outside, Frisk/Chara set Flowey down in front of their TV and grabbed two controllers, “ _I'm gonna kick your roots weed!_ ”

“Heh, we'll see!” Flowey announced, slowly feeling better by the second.

Frisk couldn't help but smirk inwards, _‘'I'm glad to have these two…’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How was that? Hope I'm getting the elements of these two worlds right, which can be a little hard since I have to brush up on stuff for Super Mario and Undertale but being a gamer that shouldn't be too hard! 
> 
> I wasn't really sure how I wanted to end this chapter, but I was pretty happy with what I came with so I hope you all like it too!
> 
> Please comment your thoughts, questions, and theories for what might happen in the comments below as I _LOVE_ reading what people have to say about my writing!
> 
> Until next time!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lucky to those keeping up with this story since I needed a break from writing _Reflections we Face_ , so I decided to get a chapter of this done!
> 
> I'm quite sure where I want to take this fic just yet, so, for now, I'm gonna do some world building of sorts as well as track the important characters and see how they mingle with one another. (Did that make sense? I hope it did...)
> 
> Anyways, onwards with the chapter! If you spot any mistakes please tell me so I can fix them!

The sun peeked through the cherry red curtains as the light shined through and onto an abnormally large round bed with faded red sheer drapes that fell over the canopy overlooking it. The maroon sheets held a small figure underneath and as the light cascaded over the small mass it groaned, “No… five more minutes…” grumbled a tired voice as the mass tossed and turned for a bit before sighing and sitting up. From under the covers was none other than Prince Bowser Jr., heir to the Koopa Throne, with half-lidded eyes and yawning.

The 11-year-old royal shuffled out of bed and stumbled over to the window, holding the curtains as he debated whether or not to shut them and go back to bed. Ultimately, though, he knew his father wouldn't want him to sleep the day away so he opened the window up to its fullest and letting sunlight bathe his room in light. In the room, there were toys and books scattered about, a maroon couch and chair, and a TV along with a gaming system. The prince never really had a lot that he called his own, but he was okay with that. His father made sure to teach him that even as royalty that there were certain things they couldn't do or couldn't have even with their wealth and power at hand. It wasn't something that really clicked with him until Bowser had called for a truce between the Koopa and Mushroom kingdoms.

Junior walked into his private bathroom, climbed up on the sink counter, and started to brush his teeth. The young Koopa pushed his tangled hair out of his face while he brushed, reminding himself that he was in desperate need of a haircut.

Bowser was usually on top of stuff like this but lately, he had become forgetful over the little things the last month while preparing for the Royal Banquet. This was important though so the prince was okay with things taking a little longer than usual.

_____

After brushing his teeth and taking a quick shower- he may have been young, but that didn't mean he couldn't clean himself- he walked by into his room, drying his hair as he walked over to his closet and pulled out his shell and put it on. Koopas had the ability to remove their shells, which made it very convenient for the Royal Family because of the spikes.

Junior grabbed his signature bandana, tying it around his neck before binding his hair in his usual ponytail. Just before leaving he smiled as he picked up his magic paintbrush from off the ground and headed out.

The castle was normally bustling and busy throughout the weekend as during the week troops were more spread out at their own posts and only really returning to the castle to give reports and rest before heading out once again. Even without the need to invade Peach's castle, there was still plenty for the army to do: guard strongholds, assist those in need, and overall patrol sectors for any suspicious activity.

While wandering the halls he spotted two regular koopas just talking, “Hey! What are you two doing?!”

The Koopas turned to Junior with worried expressions, “M-My prince,” one of the Koopas stuttered, “W-We were just-”

“Not working, right? Chatting it up when it's not your break?”

“W-Well-”

“No excuses! Get back to work!”

Both koopas straightened out, “Yes our Prince!” They said in sync before marching off somewhere. It was one of the things Junior liked to do since they had royal authority: Mess with the troops. Junior, honestly, didn't care that they were talking… he was just being a brat. It was one of the things he was good at.

Someone thought the same, “Terrorizing the troops my young prince?”

Junior whipped around to see a magikoopa clan in an aqua robe, “Grandfather!” He cheered before launching in for a hug. Kamek just rolled his eyes as he returned the hug.

“How many times do I have to tell you, I am just your family's advisor.”

“Yeah, but you played a big role in raising Papa when his parents got sick,” Junior looked up at the magikoopa, “and Papa said when Grandpa and Grandma died you did everything to raise him into the king he is today! Doesn't that make you family too?”

Kamek was stunned, thinking that the prince only called him that name because of how “ancient” he was. He never really thought about that the king had told him all that. Kamek smiled, “I guess you are right my young prince, as always.”

Junior giggled, “Is it time for my magic lessons already? I swear didn't sleep in today.”

“No my Prince you didn't sleep in, but I like to get started early so we can work on a few different spells, come along.” Kamek gestured for the royal Koopa to follow him. Junior gleefully walked behind the magikoopa as they descended a flight of stairs that led into a large, rounded, room with books lining the walls. Kamek had instructed Junior to sit down at the desk in the Center and began his lessons.

For the next two and a half hours Kamek went over various hexes and spells that magikoopa such as himself could use with proper training, telling Junior that he would only use these abilities to protect and never to needlessly attack- something Bowser wanted his son to understand as they were no longer feuding with the Mushroom Kingdom. Most of what Kamek went over were basic speaks and such that most could learn without the need of any magical background per se, but the magikoopa recognized that the prince's more unique Paint Magic was what needed focus on. He was impressed, though, by Junior's willingness to learn the history of magic and its many intricacies that involved casting.

“Okay my Prince,” Kamek began as he shut the book he was reading from, “I think it's time for some practical training.”

“You mean we get to fight? Awesome!” Junior jumped in his seat before leaping up to put all the books at his desk away. Kamek couldn't help but smile at the young koopa's enthusiasm; some magikoopa recruits act entitled or aren't putting everything they have into their studies, so it's nice to see a student, like Junior, always excited to learn new things.

As they made it out to the courtyard Kamek prepared his wand in his hand, “Okay Prince Junior let's work on your attacks, hit me with everything you have!”

“Are you sure?” Junior brandished his large paintbrush in his hands.

“I'll be fine my Prince.”

“Okay…” the young koopa placed his bandana over his mouth and prepared to fight. His paintbrush glowed as he coated the space in white strokes of paint as they were sent barreling towards Kamek. The older Magikoopa sent colorful hexes after colorful hexes to match each of Junior's attacks before they even made it to him, but unfortunately for him, the prince had always had an excessive amount of energy which translated into his magic as the attacks seemed almost never-ending.

Launching his own counterattacks, Kamek managed to slip a few of his own spells past Junior's barrage in order to cut the young prince's focus. It worked for the most part as Junior slowed his own attacks in order to dodge the hexes, rolling away to safety. Kamek took this opportunity of distraction to line the training field with traps, “Try to get around these, my young prince!” As nimble as he was, Bowser Jr. was still very clumsy when it came to his footwork.

Like father, like son.

The young koopa picked out a few of the traps, destroying them with a few strokes of disruptive black paint, but as he kept his eyes on one he never seemed to keep track of all of them. As quick thinking as he was- blocking the ensnaring traps and propelling himself of the pitfall traps- Bowser Junior found himself cornered as he tripped a Trap Hex he landed on, which transformed into a translucent cube his size and effectively cutting off his grip to his large paintbrush. Kamek had won.

“Ugh! No fair, you cheated!”

“I couldn't possibly know of what you're referring to my Prince.” Kamek couldn't help but snicker, “I merely used the tools at my disposal to my advantage, and I don't think that's anything close to cheating. You need to pay more attention to your surroundings instead of trying to end the fight before it began, a strategy like that always ends badly for someone.”

“But Papa did it all the time when he used to kidnap Aunt Peach.”

“Yes, and how did that turn out for him every time?” The old Magikoopa asked seeing the Koopa Prince deflate as he knew Kamek was right.

Kamek had broken his spell and helped the prince to his feet, “Must be hereditary, your father used to charge in as well during his training sessions.”

“Really?”

“Indeed. His father and I would throw everything we had at him and he always believed his brute strength would get him through all of his challenges, it… never turned out well for him,” Kamek smiled at the memories of young Bowser frustrated and irritated with him and the late king.

Though while Kamek found himself reminiscing he snapped back to reality as he felt a tug on his cloak, Junior's face lined with sad curiosity, “What is it, my Prince?”

“What… What was Grandpa like?” His voice was quiet and filled with uncertainty. Junior rarely asked questions about his family history but not for the lack of wanting to know. He just never really knew when was the right time to ask those sorts of questions. A part of the young Koopa always wondered if he should even ask these questions with how infrequently everyone talked about his family's more distant past.

Though, much his father at his age, Kamek saw all of this pass through his expressions as he held the Koopa closer, “The King was… tough, but caring. He always worked his troops hard and kept them in perfect shape, but also understood that bonding with those under his rule benefited the kingdom as a whole. He very much a family man as well, watching over his wife and sons and never failed to be there for them.” Kamek smiled warmly at the young koopa, “He would've loved to meet you.”

“Really?”

“Really. Your father would've made him proud with how he's raised you so far: hiccups along the way, but your father has done his best.” Junior let this soak in for a bit before smiling broadly at the Magikoopa.

His smile faltered just slightly as normal curiosity filled his features, “Did you say sons, like… plural?”

The Magikoopa realized his mistake as he sadly looked down at the prince, “A story for another time, but for now i believe it is time for your lessons with the King,” he deflected as they entered the castle. The young prince ran off to find his father and as he turned down one of the halls Kamek sighed, “One day my Prince… one day…”

_____

It didn't take long for Bowser Jr. to find his father since he usually sat in the throne room w whenever between tasks, and that's exactly what he was, “Papa!” The young Koopa exclaimed before rushing Bowser for a hug.

The King found himself lost in thought when his son called for him, jumping a bit when he slammed into him, “Junior, hey,” he returned the hug with vigor, “how's my birthday boy?”

“Papa my birthday isn't for another 3 weeks!” The Koopa couldn't help but giggle.

“Bah, doesn't matter to me! You're still my special boy- 3 weeks or 3 days, you're still getting older right before my eyes!” Bowser wipes away a faux tear from his eye, “You grow up so fast, soon you won't need your old man anymore…” The large Koopa whimpered as he hugged his son tighter, “What am I going to do without you in my life?”

“Papa, stop being so dramatic!” The prince wormed his way out of his father's grip to playfully glare at him, “I'm only turning 12, and who says I won't need you? You're my Papa, I'll always need you!”

“That's right!” Bowser's attitude immediately shifted, “and with you, at my side, it'll be able to scare off all those dastardly girls who want to date you!”

“Dating? Ew, Papa, that's gross!”

Bowser deeply laughed at his son's reaction, “Your attitude about that might change within a year or two, so until then I have to be ready!” He grappled onto his son once again and ground his knuckles into the top of the prince's head, said prince adamantly against this gesture.

After tussling around for a little longer Bowser had let his son down, the king's mood much improved, he stood up himself and stretched, “So, am I to assume it's time for your fire lessons? Or were you just wanting to see your Papa?”

“I always want to see you, but yeah it's time for my lessons!”

“And how did your magic lessons go with Kamek?” Bowser asked as the two of them strolled down the halls.

“Really good! Some of the history stuff is a little boring, but it's all pretty cool to learn about! We even got to fight today! I…” Junior looked away from his father for a moment, “I lost.”

“Oh it's alright son. Kamek's been doing magic since he's been alive, and that a pretty long time! As long as you're improving then that's all I care about. You got a gift, unlike you Papa here.”

Bowser Jr. glanced at his father, “Whaddya mean?”

“I mean that I wasn't the best when it came to magic and all that stuff: Hated reading about history and didn't really care about all the uses and such when I was your age, I just wanted to jump right into it. Though as much as I tried it never really came easy to me, luckily to royal scepter does most of the work for me so that isn't an issue anymore.” He ruffled his son's hair, “But I saw you were different ever since you were born! You just had that… air about you, ever since you were pretty young, that's why I gave you that paintbrush: A way to show off your creativity but also to focus and channel all that magical talent in you.”

The two stopped walking once they came up to a heavy metal door and once opened revealed a well-lit stone room covered in scorch marks, “But enough about magic, now it's time for my specialty!”

Bowser's own father had done fire breathing lessons with him when he was just starting to form ember, and as per tradition, it was his turn to do the same for his own son. He and the prince were close, but this gave them the time to bond without any real interruptions. The funny part was that Bowser was kinda jealous of his son since it seemed that not only did he have a better understanding/use of magic but he picked up on the techniques and such that came with breathing fire much faster than himself when he was his age, but seeing Junior progress faster than he originally thought always brought a smile to his face.

While his father went over the basics, as he always did, the prince noticed something about Bowser's demeanor that had him curious. He had noticed that after the truce treaty with Princess Peach that his father seemed… lost, not really knowing what to do. His temper had somehow worsened as time went by and it worried him and the Koopalings all the same. He was more aggressive with the troops and it seemed whenever he or any of the Koopalings were in the area he just… bottled up whatever he was feeling and stormed off. He would get upset with them from time to time, but it seemed as if he was keeping himself from exploding.

Then… there was the day the dam burst…

_“OH MY GOD JUNIOR WITH YOU JUST SHUT UP!!!”_

The prince had never seen his father so furious before and at him especially. He saw his father raise his fist against him, but never really, truly, believed that his father would ever hit him. Still though… it was a situation Junior had never found himself in before and that alone was frightening. Bowser had caught his eye line, which was still trained on the first, and it pained the prince to see all of the anger drain from Bowser and being replaced by disgust and fear of a different kind before his father stormed off and away from him.

Bowser avoided his son for days after that event, never once feeling comfortable being around the prince or even the Koopalings. It had taken Junior cornering Bowser into talking before the King felt okay enough to be around his son again:

_“You know I would **never** hit you for anything, right Junior?”_

_“Of course Papa! You were having a bad day and I wasn't really making any better, sorry about that.”_

_“No, Junior, don't apologize for something that was **my fault.** I know that my temper can get the best of me, so I shouldn't have ever let it get that bad and **especially** not while you were around. I just want you to know that if that ever happens again I want you to attack me with everything you got, sometimes when I'm really angry… I don't really know what I'm doing, I'm not in the right state of mind. You're not helpless: you have every right to defend yourself from me or anyone who tries to hurt you, understand?”_

_“I do, but Papa… I know you won't hurt me, you love me too much for something stupid like your anger to come between that!”_

They had hugged it out after that, but Bowser Jr. noticed his father was still a little skittish around him from time to time, which annoyed him, but something had changed. Over the last 6 months, he saw his father grow more and more energized as the days went by along with just being happier than Junior had ever seen him! He laughed more, smiled more, talked more, and just seemed to improve overall. He wasn't really sure what happened to cause this kind of change… until he thought back to the _one_ change since all those months back…

He continue to think about this as he watched his father demonstrate breathing out streams of fire before switching to fireballs, the prince mimicking Bowser's instructions once it was his turn to display his progress since they started these lessons when he was 7. Needless to say, Bowser was glad to see his son hols a steady stream of fire from his mouth for at least 20 seconds- continuous fire takes a substantial amount of energy- and actually impressed seeing the sizable fireballs the prince managed to spit out as they were fairly large compared to his height.

The lessons went on for a total of two hours as Bowser went over the different techniques they've gone over for better control, better usage, and understanding how dangerous fire can be and where it is appropriate to resort to fire breathing. While taking a short at the end of the session Bowser had noticed his son more deeply in thought for the past hour or so, “Penny for your thoughts son? What's on your mind?”

“Just… thinking about you Papa and how you've been.”

This piqued the large Koopa's interest, “And what about me?”

“How you've been happier lately, probably the happiest you've been in a long time.”

“And… that's a bad thing?” Bowser asked, confused to what his son was getting at.

“No, of course not! I was just… thinking about what's changed is all. You were… kinda lost after Peach, Mario, and Luigi became our friends. You weren't really sure what to do next. You were, um… a bit distant too,” Junior sounded saddened by that last fact. “And then you got angry, like _really angry_ , and most steered clear of you for a while since you didn't have anything to really punch since we stopped trying to kidnap the princess. The last 6 months or so, though, you've seemed… perky?”

“Perky?”

“I'm not really sure what to say… you're just happier: you yell less unless given reason, you smile a lot more, and you've been more… loving? Caring? I know you've always been like that Papa but it feels like you're just showing that side of you more.”

“Oh, uh…” Bowser felt his scales heat up around his face, unable to put in words how observant his son has been without him really noticing.

“And I think I figured out the reason.”

“A-And what's that?”

“King Asgore,” Junior let out as his father did a, fairly bad, job at covering up his stuttering with faux coughing. Luckily on the king's end, his son didn't pick up on his false coughing, “Papa, are you okay?”

“Uh- Y-Yes! Yes, I'm fine. Something caught in my throat,” he lied as he turned away trying to will his blush away, “So… King Asgore, any particular reason why you t-think that?”

“Well… you finally have a friend!”

“A… friend?” Bowser glanced at his son who seemed pleased by his deduction.

“Yeah! I mean, yeah, Aunt Peach and Uncle Mario and Luigi are our friends and we do a lot of things together like parties, go-karting, golfing, but King Asgore is someone like you! He's a king, has his own subjects to look after and understands that you work really hard for all of us! He's a Papa like you, right?” Bowser nodded, not trusting his words, “Well that's another reason why he connects with you! The two of you have a lot in common and that good for a friend,” Junior's smile faltered a bit, “and… when he first came to the castle he looked a lot like you, when you were talking.”

“What do you mean by that Junior?”

“He looked lost like you did back then, but since you guys became friends I haven't seen him look like that since! You must be, like, his best friend at this point!”

“Yeah… friend…”

“I know you like hanging out with Uncle Mario and Luigi, but King Asgore has a lot in common with you! So I'm glad you got to meet him, you seem better off for it!” Even with his childlike sense, it astonished Bowser how insightful his son sounded.

 _'Maybe he really is growing up fast…’_ “Um… well… I'm glad you think so. Asgore has been… pretty helpful in getting my temper under control, he actually knows a thing or two about being explosive, so Dreemurr's done a lot for me.”

“Cool! Best friends are supposed to be there for each other!”

Bowser blinked before smirking and ruffling his son's hair, “Yeah, I guess you're right. When did you become so wise? That's my job!” The prince couldn't help but snicker at his father's antics while he pouted and muttered about being the parent.

His father was happy, and that's was mattered to Junior.

_____

Bowser still had a few tasks to get done before the end of the day, so Junior explored the castle as he was finished with his lessons for the day. It was a quarter past 3 and the Koopa Prince was pretty hungry, so he took the money his father had given him before he left to get something to eat outside the castle and in the nearby town.

Though he's done this walk many times before he always took his Paintbrush with him since you never know what kind of idiots would try to take on the Koopa Prince.

He entered the town, filled with various shops, diners, entertainment venues, and whatnot that Junior always enjoyed visiting. The town was always bustling and busy and everything always felt warm and inviting no matter where you go around town. It never failed to put a smile on the Koopa's face.

He strolled into one of his favorite burger joints in town, already knowing what he was going to order, and found himself a little thrown off by the cashier. Who stood at the front was a being composed of blue flames, that seemed to resemble a woman, that wore the silly uniform of said burger joint, “Hello, welcome to Koop Burgers, what can I get you?”

Junior's head went blank for a moment as her soft orange eyes fixated on him and her voice- she spoke but had no visible mouth- was kind sounding to his ears, “Uh…” was all he managed to get out.

The fire woman giggled, “You okay hon?”

“Uh… yeah, yeah!” Junior shook himself out of his stupor, “Yeah, um, I would like to have a Double Koop Cheeseburger, Fiery Style, with a large fry!”

“You got it, Hon!” The cashier calculated everything up, “Okay, that'll be 13 gold coins.” Bowser Jr. gladly gave the proper amount as she began storing them away, “Oh my, silly me, I forgot to ask: her or to go?”

“Here please!”

“No problem.” Junior took his seat as he waited for his food, and he found himself fixated on the fire woman that took his order. His father had talked about how “Monsters” had escaped from the underground where they were trapped and he said that those residents form the kingdom would be, obviously, welcomed to live here and Junior had seen other Monsters around but never really got close enough to talk to them. He still found it kind of confusing why a species- if that's the proper term- would want to call themselves Monsters when monsters aren't usually a good thing. Junior knew from experience from his time visiting New Donk City with his father that those less than kind whisperings towards them never labeled them in a nice light. There was so much he wanted to know about them but found himself nervous to go up to any of the ones he's seen around to ask.

Fortunately it seemed that luck had dropped an opportunity in his lap as the same cashier came by with his food and sat down next to him, “I'm on my break so i thought I'd come by to say hello.”

“But we already did,” Junior mentions as he squirts put ketchup on his tray and started digging in.

“I guess you're right on that front, but we didn't introduce ourselves,” she held out a fiery hand, “Hi, my name's Catherine Sulfuric.”

The young Koopa hesitated for a moment before cleaning his hand and taking hers, the flames comfortably warm, “Bowser Jr. Koopa.”

“Now that's a familiar name… but where have I heard it before?”

“My Papa's the King! Lord Bowser!” Junior proudly exclaimed.

Catherine seemed shocked by this, “Wait… _the_ Lord Bowser? That must make you…” as the pieces clicked in her mind she was nothing but kindness, “well I'll be, not every day that you get to meet a prince, must be my lucky day!” They both shared a laugh as Junior continued to eat, “So what's a royal prince doin’ in a place like this? I would have to assume palace food is much better than a greasy burger.”

The prince shook his head, “I like greasy food! I mean it's nice to have a staffed kitchen always willing to cook for you, but it does get a little dull at times. I like going out and seeing places! Sitting around a castle is boring when it comes down to it.”

“Yeah, well, I guess you're still young so that makes sense. And the King just lets you roam without supervision?”

Junior nodded, “As long as I have my paintbrush then I'm okay! Papa knows I'm capable of defending myself from dummies who think I'm easy to take on!” The young Koopa bolstered, much to the interest of the fire Monster.

They continued to talk for a while as the prince finished off his food. Catherine noticed, however, that when her she asked more about his life he seemed to want to ask her something but always second-guessed himself, this separated for a while before Catherine spoke up, “Alright hon, what's on your mind?” Again Junior opened his mouth only to shut it, “You can talk to me you know, I'm not gonna bite your head off anytime soon.” This got a laugh out of the prince.

“Well…” The young Koopa started playing with the metal band on his wrists, “I was wondering… how can you talk? You don't seem to have a mouth, so…” Junior started to feel self-conscious since as he talked what he asked sounded super rude and right before he was going to apologize he saw that Catherine wasn't upset.

“Monsters on a whole are innately magical, most of our being is made of magic, so we can do things that others wouldn't be able to do- hence me being able to talk sans a mouth.”

Her explanation made a lot of sense to Junior and seeing that she wasn't judging of his questions caused him to light up, “How come your fire didn't burn me? My family is more fireproof than most koopas but fire can still hurt us, but when he shook hands you were…” A kid-like blush bloomed on Junior’s face, “...warm…”

Catherine glanced warmly at the embarrassed Koopa, “I can control my flames, if it didn't then anything flammable would catch fire pretty fast. It's all about trust as well: if someone I didn't like tried to touch me then it would hurt them, but you weren’t a threat of any kind so there’s no point to have my flames on the defensive.”

“Ooh!” Whenever Junior’s father talked about fire they could only exude something that could hurt so he always talked about how to control it so it didn't hurt anyone unintentionally but hearing this had him enraptured by the Monster in front of him. He started rattling off plenty of questions that Catherine was pretty happy to answer all of them and every answer made more and more sense to Junior and he found himself craving more.

Catherine explained, briefly, about the importance of the Soul in Monster culture and how it connected not only them but to others outside their community. She talked about the different subspecies of Monsters that ranged from reptilian to skeletal to undead to animalistic to a slew of other variations. That made sense to the prince as he’s spotted many different Monsters around the kingdom for the last six months. Catherine was also kind enough to answer questions regarding Asgore as she, while a little hesitant to talk about the past, went on about his rule and how kind and caring and strong a leader Asgore had been over the centuries.

“Centuries? That's… a long time, right?” Junior asked, trying to remember his talk with Bowser and lengths in time.

“Yeah hon, Monsters don't really age the same way as other species. We age, yes, but stop once we reach our primes. The only time we begin aging again is when we have children of our own. I was born in the Underground and for years I had assisted my dad in our little shop in Hotland before he had died, spread his dust over the lava pits behind the shop.”

“Dust?”

“Monsters don't really keep their bodies when we pass, because of our bodies being mostly magic- and it varies from Monster to Monster with injuries- so when we die our Souls break apart. The Soul keeps our being together so without it we… crumble, I guess that's the best way to put it. When a Monster dies it's usually their family that takes their dust and spreads it on whatever they loved or wanted to be spread on: Dad wanted the lava pits because he used to go back there to think and contemplate.” Catherine went to say more when an alarm went off on her watch, “Aww man, sorry hon, I gotta get back to work now.”

“No, it's fine! It was really fun talking to you!” He gave her a brief hug before getting up from his seat, waving goodbye.

There was still a lot about Monsters he didn't know, but after talking with Catherine he felt a lot better about his understanding of them, ‘Maybe the next time Asgore visits I can ask him some stuff!’ Junior smiled at the thought as he enjoyed the scenery on his way back to the castle. It was a good day, and Bowser Jr. felt a lot better because of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How was that? Tell me your thoughts in the comments below! (I'll never get sick of seeing comments, they're the best!) Also does Junior sound like a kid from how he acts/talks? I think he does, but it's been a bit since I was 11 so I just to double check with you peoples to see if I'm doing a good job.
> 
> Until next time!


End file.
